Huntsville to provide $3M toward new Cabela's-anchored mixed-use development

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Two years ago, Huntsville leaders began pursuing a wish list of key retailers they wanted to attract to the Rocket City.

Whole Foods and Cabela's, a Nebraska-based hunting, fishing and outdoor gear retailer, were among the top four.

When conversations began with Cabela's, the city started with 16 potential sites. The 53-year-old company looked at a number of places ranging from the north boundary of Huntsville to south of the Tennessee River to Interstate 65.

"This part of the retail world brings an offering to the city of Huntsville that's not found anywhere else in Alabama," said Mayor Tommy Battle. "Also, it's part of our continuing work on retail development trade that brings money into the city of Huntsville."

The store will employ 180 workers when it opens in 2015. Shane Davis, director of urban development for Huntsville, said site work should begin in the next 60 to 90 days.

The city has agreed to provide $1 million for improvements at Governors West Road to account for traffic coming in and out of the site. Davis said the city's total investment will be $3 million after a right-of-way is purchased and utilities are installed.

"Cabela's is a class act," he said. "They're coming to our city with no direct incentive by the city of Huntsville ... They believe in our market, they believe in standing on their own and we're very proud to have them."

Cabela's is also expanding with new stores in Oklahoma City and Woodbury, N.Y. The company currently has 56 stores across North America and will open 21 additional stores during the next two years.

KOKH-TV reports the city of Oklahoma City offered a rebate of up to $3.5 million in sales tax over a 10-year period to lure Cabela's.

Davis said the 300,000-square-foot Parkside Town Centre will complement the nearby Bridge Street Town Centre and make the 255 corridor from University Drive to I-565 "something very, very special special."

"Our Research Park is the second largest in the U.S., fourth largest in the world," he said. "It's key we keep that vibrant. We think this development, along with Bridge Street, will continue that and will add energy to the redevelopment of Madison Square Mall."

Huntsville City Administrator John Hamilton called the new Cabela's development a "game changer" and "catalyst" for economic growth across north Alabama.

"When you bring these kind of resources in, it gives us the resources we need to grow and sustain the city in a way that the populous demands us," he said. " ... Hopefully, it will spill out across the entire city and across this region."

The $50 million Whole Foods development will stretch from Bob Wallace Avenue north to Merchants Walk along the Parkway. Construction on the site is expected to start later this summer.

Additional retailers for the Parkside Town Centre project will be announced in the coming months. Landowner Attitude, LLC is working with a national broker/developer on leasing the remaining dining, retail and hospitality space.

"By adding these retailers to our portfolio, we end up with a larger sales tax," said Battle. "That larger sales tax means we can do infrastructure, and that infrastructure is the kind that's needed to be able to provide for those 110,000 people who work in the city of Huntsville and go out somewhere else to live every day."